Predicting the subjective intensity of imagined sensory experiences from electrophysiological measures of oscillatory brain activity

Author:

Arnold Derek H.ORCID,Saurels Blake W.,Anderson Natasha,Andresen Isabella,Schwarzkopf Dietrich S.

Abstract

ABSTRACTMost people can conjure images and sounds that they experience in their minds. There are, however, marked individual differences. Some people report that they cannot generate imagined sensory experiences at all (aphantasics) and others report that they have unusually intense imagined experiences (hyper-phantasics). These individual differences have been linked to activity in sensory brain regions, driven by feedback. We would therefore expect imagined experiences to be associated with specific frequencies of oscillatory brain activity, as these can be a hallmark of neural interactions within and across regions of the brain. Replicating a number of other studies, relative to meditation we find that the act of engaging in imagining auditory or visual sensations is linked to reductions in the power of oscillatory brain activity across a broad range of frequencies, with prominent peaks in the alpha band (8-12 Hz). This oscillatory activity, however, did not predict individual differences in the subjective intensity of imagined experiences. For imagined audio experiences, these were rather predicted by reductions within the theta (6 – 9 Hz) and gamma (33 – 38 Hz) bands, and by increases in beta (15 – 17Hz) band activity. For imagined visual experiences these were predicted by reductions in lower (14 – 16Hz) and upper (29 – 32 Hz) beta band activity, and by an increase in mid-beta band (24 – 26 Hz) activity. Our data suggest that there is sufficient ground truth to the subjective reports that people use to describe the intensity of their imagined sensory experiences such that these can be predicted by the power of distinct rhythms of brain activity.

Publisher

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3